Quantum Computers

Bret Cahill · science forum Guru Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 480

Supposedly the only truly random events are in quantum mechanics.
Everything else is, if you had the time, knowable. Just because
something has some ramdom aspects, however, doesn't necessarily mean it
is completely unpredictable. If we could get an idea of what would
happen SOME of the time at the quantum level then maybe the perfect
arrangement of atoms in some new nano material could make fusion power
possible.

A fast large discharge of energy is, by definition, bomb making.

Bret Cahill

Guest · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject: Re: Quantum Computers

If we could control quantum events, we wouldn't have to worry about
some nano material. We could cause fusion directly. Every fusion
event is the quantum tunneling of a nucleus through the electrostatic
repulsion by another nucleus.

Bret Cahill · science forum Guru Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 480

Complete control might not be necessary, just a good understanding.

A recent _Science News_ had a story about a new imaging technique that
could show orbitals. They compared a shape predicted by quantum
mechanics to the real shape. It was close but "close" isn't what you
generally expect from a high science. They should have been
identical.

They claim a quantum computer will be able to model quantum events or
will even be the event itself.

Recently an investor watching oil futures and energy industry stocks
was wondering how energy once again became king on Wall Street
dethroning the high tech / info industries. I tried to explain.
"Look, look, look, there is no nexus between energy and information.
Just because some computer geeks and oil speculators got rich quick . .
.. COMPLETELY unrelated . . . We will ALWAYS need energy no matter what
they do in information processing. The only nexus is big money moving
real fast . . ."

On second thought, however, maybe an important nexus has been
overlooked. Maybe we will never directly download energy in a .btu
file but . . .

Bret Cahill

"You sense events like someone inside hearing a carriage rumble by out
on the street but I'm riding in the carriage and often I'm the carriage
itself."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

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